Iran: OPEC will not be Pressured by Consumers

As oil prices continue to rise, Iran has warned that OPEC would not allow itself to be pressured by consumers in the face of rising oil prices, saying current record crude highs were good for oil exporting countries.
‘The talk that OPEC is a provider and a regulator of prices and therefore can be pressured is not acceptable,’ government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters after oil prices hit new highs in Asian trade.
‘Only around 30 pct of the world’s oil comes from OPEC and there is no need to impose pressure on OPEC countries,’ he added. ‘Many OPEC countries in the region rely on oil income and the hike in prices is a suitable thing for these countries.’